Western Washington’s reputation as a soggy bastion for the web-footed is taking a beating this year, thanks to an unrelenting dry spell.
Author: Vince Stricherz
I spent more than 20 years as a reporter and editor in broadcast, print and wire service news, and have been covering physical sciences at UW for more than a decade. I currently cover Earth and space sciences, chemistry and physics, and also handle some editing duties for UW Today and the Faculty & Staff Insider Web pages.
Despite recent indications that Antarctica cooled considerably during the 1990s, new research suggests that the world’s iciest continent has been getting gradually warmer for the last 150 years, a trend not identifiable in the short meteorological records and masked at the end of the 20th century by large temperature variations.
Fast-warming climate appears to be triggering genetic changes in a species of fruit fly that is native to Europe and was introduced into North and South America about 25 years ago.
A UW researcher has devised a way to use the fossil teeth of ancient bison as a tool to reconstruct historic climate and vegetation changes in America’s breadbasket, the Great Plains.
The Alps, the iconic rugged mountains that cover parts of seven European nations, might have reached their zenith millions of years ago, some scientists believe, and now are a mere shadow of their former selves.
A University of Washington researcher has devised a way to use the fossil teeth of ancient bison as a tool to reconstruct historic climate and vegetation changes in America’s breadbasket, the Great Plains.
Imagine turning on your computer and not having to wait for it to load the operating system, virus protection, firewalls and other programs.
The steady discovery of giant planets orbiting stars other than our sun has heightened speculation that there could be Earth-type worlds in nearby planetary systems capable of sustaining life.
What if the tiniest components of matter were somehow different from the way they exist now, perhaps only slightly different or maybe a lot? What if they had been different from the moment the universe began in the big bang? Would matter as we know it be the same? Would humans even exist?
Scientists are starting to find answers to some profound questions such as these, thanks to a breakthrough in the calculations needed to understand the strong nuclear force that comes from the motion of nature’s basic building blocks, subatomic particles called quarks and gluons.
What if the tiniest components of matter were somehow different from the way they exist now, perhaps only slightly different or maybe a lot? What if they had been different from the moment the universe began in the big bang? Would matter as we know it be the same? Would humans even exist?
Scientists are starting to find answers to some profound questions such as these, thanks to a breakthrough in the calculations needed to understand the strong nuclear force that comes from the motion of nature’s basic building blocks, subatomic particles called quarks and gluons.
Starvation typically has dire consequences for an organism’s growth.
The National Science Foundation has reversed an earlier decision and will support UW efforts to draft a conceptual design proposal for a Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory in the Washington Cascades, university officials have learned.
The National Science Foundation has reversed an earlier decision and will support UW efforts to draft a conceptual design proposal for a Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory in the Washington Cascades, University officials have learned.
It has been 2.
The National Science Foundation has reversed an earlier decision and will support University of Washington efforts to draft a conceptual design proposal for a Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory in the Washington Cascades, university officials have learned.
(Updated on June 21, 2006)
A new satellite that last week began gathering data from the Earth’s atmosphere could be a key tool in unraveling just how much effect the reflectivity of clouds and tiny particles called aerosols are having on the planet’s changing climate.
Starvation typically has dire consequences for an organism’s growth.
The atmosphere is warming faster in subtropical areas, around 30 degrees north and south latitude, than it is elsewhere, University of Washington-led research shows.
For many years geologists have harbored a belief that the Kamchatka Peninsula, shrouded in mystery and secrecy on Russia’s east coast, actually sits on the same tectonic plate as the mainland United States, Canada and Mexico.
It is a marvel of nature that a creature such as a caterpillar changes into something quite different, a butterfly.
For many years geologists have harbored a belief that the Kamchatka Peninsula, shrouded in mystery and secrecy on Russia’s east coast, actually sits on the same tectonic plate as the mainland United States, Canada and Mexico.
It is a marvel of nature that a creature such as a caterpillar changes into something quite different, a butterfly.
Rare metabolic diseases such as Tay-Sachs, Fabry and Gaucher syndromes are caused by enzyme deficiencies and typically have crippling, even fatal, consequences starting at very early ages.
ATLANTA — Rare metabolic diseases such as Tay-Sachs, Fabry and Gaucher syndromes are caused by enzyme deficiencies and typically have crippling, even fatal, consequences starting at very early ages.
Scientists analyzing recent samples of comet dust have discovered minerals that formed near the sun or other stars.
The most powerful earthquakes — such as those that shook Indonesia in 2004, Alaska in 1964, Chile in 1960 and the Pacific Northwest in 1700 — occur in subduction zones, areas of the sea floor just offshore where two tectonic plates meet and one dives beneath the other.
The old adage tells that oil doesn’t mix with water.
The old adage tells that oil doesn’t mix with water.
The most powerful earthquakes — such as those that shook Indonesia in 2004, Alaska in 1964, Chile in 1960 and the Pacific Northwest in 1700 — occur in subduction zones, areas of the sea floor just offshore where two tectonic plates meet and one dives beneath the other.
Scientists at the Johnson Space Center in Houston were excited and awed Tuesday by what they saw when the sample-return canister from the Stardust spacecraft was opened.
DUGWAY, Utah — Nearly seven years after setting off in pursuit of comet Wild 2, the Stardust return capsule streaked across the night sky of the Western United States early today, making a soft parachute landing in the Utah desert southwest of Salt Lake City.
The Stardust landing will be covered live on UWTV2, which will be broadcasting from NASA-TV starting at 1:30 a.
The Stardust landing will be covered live on UWTV2, which will be broadcasting from NASA-TV starting at 1:30 a.
Scientists for years have been at a loss to explain unexpectedly high levels of mercury in fish swimming the rivers and streams of areas like eastern Oregon, far away from industrial sources of mercury pollution such as coal-fired power plants.
Scientists studying the effects of carbon on climate warming are very likely underestimating, by a vast amount, how much soil carbon is available in the high Arctic to be released into the atmosphere, new UW research shows.
Nearly 300 people gathered in Bagley Hall Friday to honor B.
SAN FRANCISCO — Scientists for years have been at a loss to explain unexpectedly high levels of mercury in fish swimming the rivers and streams of areas like eastern Oregon, far away from industrial sources of mercury pollution such as coal-fired power plants.
SAN FRANCISCO — Scientists studying the effects of carbon on climate warming are very likely underestimating, by a vast amount, how much soil carbon is available in the high Arctic to be released into the atmosphere, new University of Washington research shows.
What would you call an alien if you encountered it on the street tomorrow? What if that alien didn’t come from another world but rather was created in a laboratory right here on Earth and functioned differently from other Earth life?
Either way, Peter Ward has the beginnings of an answer.